Like this:

2 Comments

Three weeks actually seems very short compared to many other countries. The elections campaign for the Norwegian local elections started September 12th started August 13th, after having been postponed for a couple of weeks because of the terrorist attack July 22nd. Election campaigns for Storting elections usually last through the whole late summer. It’s one of the differences between having a fixed election date known years in advance, or a case like Denmark where the government can pick an election day on short notice.

But it raises interesting questions about the nomination process. In Norway, nomination meetings are held during the winter. Then the parties hold their national conventions in the spring. Early to mid summer goes to schooling and preparations, before campaigning kicks off in early August. Elections are held in September, and the new parliament convenes in early October. The USA also has a fixed, but even longer schedule. In Sweden, it’s possible to call early elections, but it seldom happens and the next is planned for September 14th 2014. Looks like the mid-September is the preferred time to hold elections in Scandinavia.

There is also the whole genre of speculations about when the elections will be called. Completely absent up here.

Candidate selection generally isn’t an issue: Local branches expect that an election can come at any time so candidates are selected whenever there is a vacancy. institutions determine behaviour 🙂

If nothing else happens, Danish parliaments have tended to last 3-3,5 years for the past two decades (the 2005-2007 parliament was an exception) and branches and potential candidates obviously also take this into account.